The perfect tree, an IFP companion
by RGoodfellow64
Summary: Rick manages to talk Kate into helping him find the perfect tree when Alexis needs to study for a test. Set in the Is Forever Possible universe.


The perfect tree

An 'Is Forever Possible' companion

by RGoodfellow64

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Disclaimer: What can I say? I didn't win the half billion Powerball, so they still aren't mine.

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"I know a guy."

She should have known that's what he'd say. Ask a simple question, you get a simple answer.

"What guy?"

"Roland."

"Roland? I never heard you mention anyone named Roland before."

"He owns a farm outside of Brewster."

"A farm?" Kate was really curious now. They were looking for a tree, weren't they?

It was late Saturday morning and they were taking a trip outside the city because Rick said the Christmas trees were fresher there. With Kate by his side, Rick was enjoying the ride and the conversation, and he practically luxuriated in having such an amazing woman sitting beside him as his fiancée. He still didn't know what he did to deserve this but he thanked the universe on a daily basis.

Seeing the signs that welcomed them to Connecticut Kate turned to him and said, "Do you think they're fresher in Connecticut than New York?"

"Connecticut?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, we're in Connecticut now," Kate replied.

"How did we end up in Connecticut?"

"Don't ask me, you're driving. I figured you knew where you were going."

"I must have made the wrong turn back there, I thought we were going north on Route 684."

"Well the next exit is for Byram and that's a suburb of Greenwich. Didn't you see the Welcome to Connecticut sign?"

"Uh, I may have had my mind on something else right then."

"I'm never going to be able to let you drive again, am I?" she asked with a smile.

Rick started to explain that she shouldn't jump to any conclusions when Kate said, "Let's get off here. I'm sure the trees in Greenwich are just fine."

As he put on the blinker to get over for the exit, Rick had a big smile on his face. "What?" she asked.

His smile grew and he said, "I just think it's hot that you know what Byram is. I had no idea; I've only seen the sign whenever I drove up the highway."

Kate smiled back and said, "So many layers Castle, how ever will you peel them all?"

His grin turned into a smirk and he opened his mouth to speak but she quickly said, "No! Don't say a word."

He chuckled and said, "Can't stop me from thinking though."

As they came to the end of the exit ramp Rick looked left and right and asked, "Which way do you think we should go?"

Kate shook her head. "Not for me to decide. You're the tree whisperer here; just pick a direction and go."

"Tree whisperer?"

"I'm here to ensure the tree fits the loft and not Rockefeller Center."

He sat for a few moments and Kate could see his lips move. It looked like he was saying eenie, meenie, miney, moe before he suddenly turned the wheel to the left and started down the road.

As they continued to drive Kate recalled how Rick tried to trick her into going with him to search for a Christmas tree. She had to turn her head and pretend she was looking out the window just to keep him from seeing the smile that she couldn't contain. He had been so cute with his puppy dog eyes, something that Martha told her he practiced a lot when he was younger.

_He off handedly mentioned on Monday that he had to search for a Christmas tree this weekend, and managed to mention at least once an hour how it wouldn't be the same now that Alexis couldn't join him due to exams. _

_He sighed quite a lot, sometimes so dramatically that Kate thought she should applaud his performance. By Wednesday however, he changed tactics and mused on how nice it would be for her to be able to take a ride outside of the city, just the two of them, but it was too bad she was on call. _

_Kate smiled again at that, remembering how she stopped Esposito from saying anything the fifth, or possibly the fiftieth time he mentioned it. Kate enjoyed every moment of his attempts to convince her to help him search for the perfect tree, because on Monday afternoon she switched her on-call with Esposito so she could go with Rick. She just thought it wasn't something she needed to tell him right away._

_Friday afternoon when Esposito was alone with her in the breakroom he asked, "Aren't you going to tell him you changed shifts with me so you can go with him tomorrow?"_

"_I'll tell him just before he leaves for his date tonight."_

_Esposito turned from the coffee machine and asked, "Date? He has a date and it isn't with you?"_

"_Yes and yes," Kate replied with a smile as she cradled her coffee mug in her hands. "Yes he has a date and yes it isn't with me."_

_At Esposito's perplexed look she added, "Alexis finally gave in to his begging and said she'd take two hours off from studying to go to dinner with him."_

"_How's little Castle doing?" he asked as he took a sip of coffee._

_Kate proudly smiled and said, "She's doing great. She has a major exam next week and she and her friends will be studying all weekend. This was always something she and Rick would do, but because of the exam she won't be home much at all."_

_He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her before he took another sip. He looked over the edge of the cup and said, "Home, huh."_

"_Shut up."_

_They walked back to their desks, and as Kate handed Rick his coffee she nonchalantly asked, "So what time are you picking me up tomorrow?"_

_His reaction was all she could have hoped._

"You're smiling," he said.

"Yep."

"Thinking of me?"

"Nope."

He creased his brows and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"If you keep driving on this road for a few more minutes we'll be back in New York again."

"Huh?"

"We're heading back to New York. If you look to your left you'll see the highway we were just on."

She had just gotten the last words out when Rick made a quick right turn at the next corner.

"Wanna turn on the radio? I'm in the mood for Christmas music."

"Good thing I didn't have a coffee in my hands," she said as she turned on the radio and tried to find a station that played Christmas music. Rick meanwhile kept looking around for any signs of Christmas trees but all he saw were houses.

Having found a station, Kate looked up and seeing houses all around said, "Do you know where you're going?"

Rick looked over at her and said, "Not really. I've never been in the wilds of Connecticut before."

"Wilds of Connecticut? Rick, we're in _Greenwich_, that's about as far from wild as you can get."

"That's what you think, but a mountain lion got hit by a car here last year. That spells wilds to me."

Kate smiled and said, "Hmmm, do you think the squirrels are nastier here than New York?"

He shook his head and said, "They can't be any worse than the ones in Central Park. I still have scratches from the one that went up my pants! I'm just glad he didn't get too far."

Kate held back a smile and said, "Don't even go there. I know it was fall, but those aren't the kind of…anyway it was probably going after the bear claw in your hand."

Rick gave a dramatic shudder and said, "All I know is the universe was looking out for me."

"Speaking of bear claws, is there anyplace where we can eat here in the wilds of Greenwich? It's already past lunch time."

"Lunch time? Kate, you don't have a set lunch time."

"My stomach does, and right now it's telling me it wants lunch."

"I only see houses with dead lawns."

"It's winter; and besides, some of the gardens still look nice."

Rick looked at her in surprise. "Gardens? You like gardens?" How come I didn't know you like gardens Kate?"

"Mom and I used to go to the Botanical Gardens every year." A quiet look came over her and she said, "I miss them."

Rick took one hand off the steering wheel and patted her thigh, "We'll go next year."

Kate smiled at him, once again feeling so very lucky that he came into her life. "That would be nice." She continued looking out the window and said, "It doesn't look like there are any businesses around here, just nice houses."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think we may have to go back to New York to get something to eat."

"All we need to do is find the Post Road; there are lots of restaurants along it. Why don't you set the GPS to find it and I'll keep you company by looking out the window at all the lovely homes and gardens."

She realized immediately that she said something wrong. She wasn't sure what it was that she said, but he was smiling. Not his usual smile, the one that made her blush and her heart flutter, no, this was the wicked smile, the one that said he was about to do something that he already knew he shouldn't.

She gave him her strongest glare and asked, "What?"

Rick just chuckled and she asked again, "Rick! What?"

"Nothing. My mind just went somewhere."

"Oh no."

"I can't believe this came into my head."

"You can keep it to yourself you know, there's no need to share."

"Mmmhmmm."

There were a few more moments of silence and Kate thought that he was thinking about something new when suddenly he began to sing, "You must have been a beautiful baby…"

"I knew it!" Kate said with an exasperated sigh.

"You must have been a wonderful child…"

"How did I know this would happen?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"When you were only startin, to go to kindergartin…

"Hey!"

"You must have drove the little boys wild."

"I said Garden, not gartin," Kate growled.

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "It's the same thing," he said.

Kate shook her head, "No it's not, and why are you still humming?"

"I'm trying to remember. How does the rest of it go?"

Kate gave a big sigh and said, "I don't know, but experience tells me you're going to figure it out."

Rick's face lit up and he said, "Ahhh, that's it…and when it came to winning blue ribbons…"

Kate turned to look back out the window. "Somehow I just _knew_ you'd remember."

"I bet you showed the other kids how, I can see the judges eyes, as they handed you the prize, you must have made the cutest bow…oh you must have been a beautiful baby, 'cause baby look at you now!" Rick finished with a flourish and wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Kate couldn't help but smile and said, "You are so weird."

Rick threw her a kiss and said, "But you love me anyway."

Kate patted his cheek and said, "There are times I wonder why. Now why don't you set that GPS so we can get something to eat?"

At the next stop sign, Rick set the GPS and soon they were on their way to the Post Road. Even though Christmas music was playing on the radio, 'You must have been a beautiful baby' kept playing in his mind. He kept glancing over to Kate, knowing that in her case it was true. Jim had shown him photos of her growing up and little Katie Beckett was absolutely adorable. He hoped that one day she would want to have a little girl with him.

This line of thought soon ended though when they got to the Post Road and started looking for somewhere to eat. They found a little restaurant, more like a sandwich shop, parked the car and went inside.

Rick was absolutely delighted and Kate could see his eyes roaming all over the shop. Every place his eyes rested they were wide with wonder at how eclectic the place was. There were mismatched couches, side tables, coffee tables and chairs in the center while smaller two person tables that looked like they came out of an old 1950's diner stood along the walls.

Up front was a large counter with all sorts of interesting sounding sandwiches written on the white board behind it. Rick ordered a chicken panini with sun roasted tomatos, provolone and pesto while Kate thought the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich on a wrap sounded good. They ordered their food and went to find a table while Rick still looked around like a kid in a toy store. Kate just knew that a place like this would show up for Nikki and Rook sometime in the future. Rick had a hard time deciding what to drink so Kate ordered him a birch beer while she enjoyed an old fashioned crème soda.

They picked a table by a window so Rick could people-watch, one of his favorite pastimes. Kate was sure that by the time they left, his neck would be sore. He had a hard time deciding where to look, inside the sandwich shop or outside on the street, so his head kept turning back and forth till Kate asked him to stop.

"I feel like we're at a tennis match," she said, and he had to chuckle before he said, "Kate, this place is so cool! Look at that counter! Look at where those people are sitting with a coffee and reading the paper! That couch looks very comfortable; do you think we should move over there?"

His words were coming out a mile-a-minute and Kate simply sat and listened. At times like this she could listen to him for hours, his mood was so infectious.

Kate's eyes softened as she watched Rick when a young man was suddenly standing at their table with a tray in his hands. He put a plate with her sandwich in front of her and then placed one in front of Rick, closely followed by their sodas. He simply said, "Enjoy," then walked back to the counter to pick up another tray.

Kate picked up her soda and took a sip. It was delicious and reminded her of the crème soda she used to have when she visited her grandfather. Rick however was staring at his with a perplexed look on his face.

"Anything wrong?" she asked.

"It's red."

"Yeah, it's supposed to be."

He looked up from his soda and said, "I never saw red soda before."

"What about cherry cola?"

He made a face, shuddered dramatically and said, "Bleech!"

Kate smiled and tapped his glass, "Well, this is better."

He looked skeptical and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then taste it," she said. When he still held back she muttered "Oh brother," picked up his glass and took a sip. She put the glass down with a smile and said, "I don't know what's better, that or my crème soda."

Rick took his glass from her hand and took his own sip, and a big smile appeared on his face, "Hey! This is really good!" He looked at it and asked, "How come it's red?"

"Did you ever see the sap from a red birch tree?" she asked.

"I know about pine sap," he said then gave another dramatic shudder. "Alexis had it all through her hair once…" he paused and then added, "That's something I would never wish on my worst enemy."

"Well, red birch is red, and since the sign said these are old fashioned and natural sodas, it stands to reason it would be red."

His eyes took on a far away look and she could almost see the wheels spinning in his brain before he said, "You know, this could be red from blood, and they need to use it because they're chopping up bad paying customers in the back."

Kate shook her head, then smiled and reached for one of his potato chips. She managed to get her hand back before he was able to slap it and laughed. "Too slow Rick."

"What is it with you and my potato choices? You eat my fries at Remy's and now you take my chips? You have your own."

She quickly grabbed another one off his plate and said, "Yours have ridges."

They enjoyed the rest of their meal and Kate broke out in laughter several times, as Rick spun stories about the different people who had been chopped up. This garnered a bit of attention from some of the other people who were eating and those simply sitting with a coffee and reading, but Kate didn't mind. It was them, and their life, and she wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

When they were leaving, Kate asked the woman behind the counter where they could buy a Christmas tree. One of the people standing in line overheard and told her where they could find one and gave her specific directions to get there.

As Kate thanked the woman, Rick noticed the book in her hands and asked, "Would you like me to autograph that for you?"

The woman gave Rick a puzzled look and checked her book. Seeing his photo on the back of 'Naked Heat' she suddenly blushed and became tongue-tied. She handed him her book and he signed it for her then handed the book to Kate. "Here, you sign it too."

Kate rolled her eyes at him but the woman asked, "Are you Nikki Heat?"

Kate sighed and gave a little smile to the woman but took the book and pen from Rick. "I'm not Nikki, but he did base the books loosely on me." She signed the book and handed it back to the woman before she added, "_Very_ loosely."

The woman held the book to her chest as a prize and thanked them both for the autographs. Kate thanked her again for the tree information and then walked out to the car, Rick right behind her.

Once in the car, Kate gave Rick directions and they started to drive. He asked where they were going and when she told him he said, "New Canaan? Isn't that up near Massachusetts?"

Kate looked at him and said, "I thought you didn't know about Connecticut?"

"I don't know Byram," he said with a phony wounded expression. "Mother was doing a play years ago and I went up to see her. That's a long drive, Kate."

"We're going to New Canaan, not Canaan, and it's only about a half hour away."

"How can Canaan be hours away but New Canaan be closer?"

Kate leaned back in her seat and said with a smile, "I guess it's just one of those mysteries of the universe, Rick. We'll never know."

He was quiet for a moment then said, "We could google it."

Kate patted his knee and said, "When we get home, Rick. When we get home."

He was silent and she could actually feel him smiling. She looked over to him and asked, "What?"

His smile grew and he said, "Home?"

"Shut up."

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"Wow, look at this place."

Kate smiled at Rick's wide eyes and said, "Yeah, it is pretty impressive."

He looked around at the trees leaning up against a fence and said, "These are really small. I was hoping for a larger tree."

"It's an eight foot fence Rick, that's the size of the trees."

"That's what I mean," he said with a disappointed look. "We need something larger than this."

An older man wearing a red plaid flannel shirt walked up and said, "If you want something larger you can look in the back. That's where the bigger trees are."

Kate smiled at how quickly Rick turned from disappointed to excited, thanked the man and followed Rick as he hurried to the back of the building. When he got to the corner, he stopped and Kate saw his eyes widen even further.

When she caught up with him, she couldn't help but give a small gasp of surprise.

"I know, right?" he said as they both looked at trees that started at ten feet and then went up from there. Way, way up from there.

"Wow," he said with something like awe in his voice.

"Don't even think about it Rick. Just something to fit the loft."

"But that big one would look so good on the roof garden."

"Till the first strong breeze knocks it over and it smashes someone car. No, don't even think it."

"But…"

"Would Alexis let you buy it?"

"Maybe when she was four."

"Well then…"

He sighed, gave one last look at the giant trees and went back to the comparatively puny twelve to fifteen foot trees nearby.

Forty minutes later Rick was satisfied, he found the perfect tree. As he stood looking at it, proud of his accomplishment, he heard Kate on the phone saying, "I guess it won't be too much longer now, the hunter gatherer managed to bag his tree."

He turned to look at Kate who mouthed the word Alexis at him as she continued to listen to whatever Alexis was saying. After another minute Kate said, "Yeah, he is like that, isn't he?"

Rick looked at her questioningly but she only smiled at him and while looking him in the eye said, "He's like this whenever he shops; he goes in to find the one or two things he wants and then leaves, having conquered the store or item. In this case, he conquered the Christmas tree."

While Rick gave her a wounded look, pretending she'd broken his heart, Kate smiled and threw him a kiss before saying, "Oh it'll fit alright. Just like you told me, I kept it below fifteen feet tall."

Rick looked at the phone in Kate's hand and softly said, "Traitor. My own flesh and blood."

Kate laughed and said, "I have to hang up Alexis, he's starting to act melodramatic. Ok sweetie, we'll see you later," then she disconnected the phone.

"My own daughter has turned against me?"

"It's for your own good, and it doesn't mean we don't love you."

Rick gave a mollified "hmmmf" and said, "Lets find the owner so we can give this tree a proper home and make it our own."

As they walked back to the front of the building, Kate put her arm in his and said, "Oh no, you're not Martha Rogers son. Not at all."

Rick kissed the top of her head and said, "Shhh, don't tell her. I'll never hear the end of it."

Five minutes later Kate was trying to hold in the laughter as Rick said in shock, "You don't deliver?"

"Nope," said the owner, "But my grandsons will wrap it up and tie it on your car for you."

Rick looked at the tree and tried to think of it tied to the top of his car, then looked at Kate who said, "I don't think we can carry a fifteen foot tree up to the loft. It definitely won't fit in the elevator."

Rick thought a bit and looked at the owner, the same man with the plaid flannel shirt they'd spoken to earlier. He came to a quick decision and asked, "May I speak to your grandsons please?"

"Sure," said the owner who called over three young men.

Rick was very happy. They were young, looked to be strong and in good physical health and more importantly, looked like they could use some extra spending money for Christmas.

He smiled and said, "Would you like to make some extra money for Christmas?"

Kate covered her mouth to hold in her laughter, as Rick had to negotiate with not only the three grandsons, but their grandfather as well, since he owned the truck. Finally, they came to an agreement and Rick paid cash for the tree and part of the delivery charge. The tree would be delivered the next day and he was already thinking how much fun it will be to decorate with Kate joining his mother and Alexis.

Rick thanked the owner once again then he and Kate got into the car and headed back to New York.

Before they got onto the highway, Kate spotted a coffee shop and said she'd like a hot chocolate since the day had become quite chilly. Ten minutes, two hot chocolates and two cinnamon buns later, they were on Interstate 95 heading back to New York.

Rick couldn't stop talking about how great the tree was going to look. He also kept sneaking glances at Kate, especially when he mentioned several times how wonderful their first Christmas together would be. Kate however was looking at her phone and didn't seem to be paying attention, so Rick finally asked what she was doing.

"While you were negotiating for delivery I took several pictures of the grandsons."

"Oh, that's a good idea; we can make sure security knows who they are."

"Well, that too."

"What do you mean that too? Why else did you take their picture?"

"You were probably too busy negotiating the delivery to notice, but those are three very good looking boys."

"Yeah, so?"

"So I sent the pix to Alexis and she just texted back that she will make sure she will be home when they deliver the tree tomorrow."

There was a few moments of silence as he digested that information before he said, "You know, maybe the tree _will_ fit on the car after all."

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**AUTHORS NOTE: Can you guess what scene actually happened to me with Mrs. G? Well here's a hint, it has to do with singing. **

**I didn't plan to write a Christmas themed story, after all 'Secret Santa' was such a great episode, but suddenly entire conversations were going through my head. Under normal circumstances other people having conversations in ones head would not be a good thing, however they all seemed to fit the 'Is Forever Possible' universe and I started to write. Hope you like it. Oh and Chkgun93, since you asked so nicely, this one's for you. :)**


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